Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest is a fiction novel by David Foster Wallace. First published in 1996, the novel has an unconventional narrative structure with hundreds of extensive footnotes. Exploring themes of addiction, alienation, and the plight of modern existence, Infinite Jest is famous for its complexity and humor. The novel has been praised by critics and heralded as one of the most important literary works of the 20th century. This guide was written using the 2014 Abacus print edition of Infinite Jest.

Other works by this author include Consider the Lobster, This is Water, and The Pale King.

Plot Summary

The nonlinear narrative of Infinite Jest begins with Hal Incandenza suffering from a strange breakdown during a college admissions interview. Hal, a prodigious intellect and a student at Boston’s Enfield Tennis Academy (E.T.A.) founded by his parents, suddenly cannot communicate with anyone. His interview takes place at the chronological end of the story. The narrative then charts Hal’s journey to this point, including a story about when Hal ate a clump of mold as a toddler. The moment broke through his cool, composed mother Avril Incandenza’s typically unshakeable demeanor. Hal’s father James was a physicist, a filmmaker, and a talented tennis player. He founded E.T.A., and his eldest son Orin was among its first students. After founding the academy, however, James Incandenza became obsessed with filmmaking then died by suicide after a long struggle with alcohol addiction. Avril and her half-brother Charles Tavis took over E.T.A.

Hal’s older brothers are Orin and Mario. Orin became disillusioned with tennis and became a famous professional American football player. Mario was born with numerous disabilities but stays at E.T.A. where he continues his father’s filmmaking legacy. At college, Orin met a woman named Joelle Van Dyne and fell in love. He introduced her to James, who cast her in many of his commercially unsuccessful films. Joelle eventually breaks up with Orin and takes over the hosting duties on a radio show under the pseudonym Madame Psychosis, though she also struggles with suicidal thoughts and an addiction to crack cocaine.

The events of Infinite Jest take place in the near future during the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. In the novel’s world, the United States, Canada, and Mexico have merged into a unified state called the Organization of North American Nations (O.N.A.N.). Every year is sponsored and named by a corporation in an effort to raise tax revenue for O.N.A.N. The President of the United States is a former Las Vegas lounge singer and germophobe named Johnny Gentle. Much of what was once New England and Quebec is now uninhabitable due to President Gentle’s plan to dump all of America’s toxic waste in the region and then gift it to Canada. This unlivable area is now referred to as the Great Concavity, and its existence has radicalized existing groups of Quebecois separatists due to its toxic effect on their homeland. Among these separatists is a group named Les Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents, or the Wheelchair Assassins. These Quebecois radicals want to gain independence from the United States and Canada by any means necessary. Their members include the leader Fortier and a man named Remy Marathe, who is in contact with an undercover agent named Hugh Steeply with regard to potentially betraying the Wheelchair Assassins to secure essential medical treatment for his dying wife Gertraude.

In a narrative that runs parallel to Hal’s, Steeply and Marathe meet on a hill outside Tucson and discuss the existence of a film made by James Incandenza, which they refer to simply as the Entertainment. This film is so captivating that anyone who watches it either wastes away watching it on repeat or harms themselves for a chance to see it again. The Wheelchair Assassins have supposedly been seeking a copy of the film to spread around the United States in their pursuit of Quebecois independence. After their meeting, Steeply goes undercover as a female journalist named Helen Steeply. He interviews Orin, who falls in love with him, and then visits E.T.A. to try to find the master copy of the Entertainment before the Wheelchair Assassins can do so.

A third concurrent narrative takes place at a rehabilitation facility named Ennet House, which is located near E.T.A. Don Gately is a former burglar and recovering from addiction. He has given up his life of crime and now works at Ennet House, helping people in recovery work through the numerous programs that are found all across Boston. Other patients at the facility include Joelle, with whom Don slowly falls in love. The residents all attend addiction recovery programs that involve them sharing their stories of pain and suffering with each other. Much to the surprise of Don and Joelle, these programs provide some relief from the pain of addiction. Both Don and Joelle share insights from their childhood that help explain why they were vulnerable to forming addictions.

At E.T.A., Hal struggles with an addiction to marijuana. With his fellow students, he frequently takes drugs. One student named Michael Pemulis sells drugs to his peers and convinces Hal to take a particularly potent drug called DMZ. After a geopolitical tennis-based strategy game turns unexpectedly violent, however, Michael is dressed down by the faculty. They are aware that he sells drugs and clean urine to the other students. Michael and Hal are forced to undergo a drug test, though Michael convinces the faculty to delay the test for a month because he knows about an illicit affair between Avril and the academy’s star player, John “No Relation” Wayne. Hal gives up marijuana for the month before the test and experiences severe withdrawal symptoms that make him question everything about his life.

At Ennet House, one of the residents deals with his addiction by murdering stray cats. His violent habits cause a fight outside the facility. Don Gately intervenes and is shot in the process. While the cat-killing resident vanishes into the streets, Don is sent to hospital. He spends weeks in the hospital, worried that the medical staff will give him drugs and destroy his recovery progress. At the same time, his pain is almost unbearable, and he slips in and out of consciousness. Don experiences vivid dreams in which he is visited by friends and a mysterious wraith that speaks to him in James Incandenza’s voice. The experience prompts Don to remember his past. He recalls his life as a criminal and his memories culminate in an extremely violent incident involving a scam gone wrong, torture, and murder. The novel ends with Don waking up after that incident on a cold beach with a light rain falling on him.